Lenovo looking to become a household name

A couple of moves by Lenovo demonstrate how serious it is about becoming a …

Since its acquisition of IBM's personal computer division last year, Lenovo has moved steadily to build its brand cachet in the US. That's a tall task for Lenovo, which outside the geek cognoscenti is a largely unknown quantity for US consumers.

The company made its name building low-cost PCs in China, but has designs on challenging Dell and others in the lucrative US and Western European markets. The deal with IBM allows Lenovo to continue using the IBM logo on its PCs and laptops, which makes sense, as it marries a well-known and respected brand name to an unfamiliar one. In a somewhat surprising move, Lenovo has dropped the IBM branding from all of its PCs and laptops, with the exception of the ThinkPad.

ThinkPads continue to carry the familiar IBM logo on their cases. However, on Lenovo's web site as well as the company's advertising, they are simply called ThinkPads with no reference to their IBM roots.

Why is Lenovo making the transition so quickly? Credibility, according to one marketing expert.

"What Lenovo is trying to do is get itself established with credibility in this market, but it feels like a premature transition. Lenovo may be strong in China, but it is a non-name in the West."

Lenovo defends its moves, noting that it is now a PC company with a global presence, and that it's time to strengthen the association between the company and its products rather than continuing to ride on IBM's coat tails. It may also allow the company to shed whatever negative connotations consumers have with the IBM brand name.

"The I.B.M. brand says third- place finisher, high-priced," [Forrester Research analyst Simon Yates] said. "Lenovo needs to get rid of the I.B.M. brand quickly because it came with a lot of baggage.

Lenovo is hoping a new agreement with big box retailer Best Buy will also help make it better-known. Lenovo will begin supplying 135-plus Best Buy stores with a lineup of desktops and laptops, including the vaunted ThinkPad. Lenovo's products will be featured in the Best Buy for Business sections of the stores, but their mere presence in the largest consumer electronics chain in the US should ensure higher visibility for the brand.

Of course, the company will be fighting it out against the likes of HP, Gateway, and a whole host of others in Best Buy. However, it could provide a big boost for the ThinkPad, especially if salesmen and ThinkPad fans begin steering customers towards the popular laptops.

In the background lurks one big question: will the Lenovo-branded machines prove to be the equals of their IBM-branded predecessors? If Lenovo wants to continue to have a major presence in markets where IBM has traditionally been strong (e.g., corporate laptop users), it will have to convince some skeptical customers that they'll be getting the same machines, just with a different label on the outside. Innovations similar to the ones IBM is famous for—such as the old butterfly keyboard and its Active Protection System, which detects sudden changes in a laptop's position in an attempt to prevent damage to its hard drive—will also help. If the quality of the new Lenovo ThinkPad X60 laptop is any indication, that task may prove easier than some think.